


The Matter that Matters

by Freya_the_Snake_Slayer



Category: Stargate - All Media Types, Stargate SG-1
Genre: F/M, Falling In Love, Love, Love at First Sight, Romance, Romantic Fluff, Short & Sweet, Short One Shot, Wedding Fluff, Weddings
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-26
Updated: 2018-10-26
Packaged: 2019-08-07 21:05:03
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,119
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16415936
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Freya_the_Snake_Slayer/pseuds/Freya_the_Snake_Slayer
Summary: All you need is love...and a basic understanding of astrophysics. Sam discovers that dark matter and love aren’t mutually exclusive terms. A warning to those with a sugar intolerance - this fic is sickly sweet.





	The Matter that Matters

**Author's Note:**

> Okay, so I’ve added a dash of astrophysics to the romance genre cocktail. Hopefully it doesn’t make everybody sick! Freya x
> 
> WARNING: navigate with caution, there’s metaphors ahead!

She couldn't observe it directly, or see it with the naked eye - but she knew it was there. It was woven into the fabric of her being. It was in the air around her. It ebbed and flowed through her body like an invisible tide. It was so insignificant, yet significant at the same time.

She’d first made the discovery eight years previous. It was purely by accident - like all cataclysmic revelations.

When she’d witnessed the two galaxies colliding, there’d been fireworks. It'd been equal parts exciting and terrifying. When she'd sifted through the debris, she’d noticed something unusual.

As a scientist, she knew that everything in the universe was constructed from the same basic materials. She’d been expecting to see evidence of these familiar building blocks - they were as reliable as old friends - but what she’d discovered blew her mind. There was a glimmer of something in the aftermath. A shadow lurking behind the familiar. She tried tracing it, but it was virtually impossible. It couldn’t be weighed or measured and it didn’t emit any light or energy. It was more of a feeling. She couldn’t define it, but she sensed it was there - like a lingering scent betraying a departed soul. Without any quantifiable proof, she initially dismissed it as a random anomaly.

As the years progressed, her scientific mind drifted back to the anomaly. It haunted her like an unsolved mystery. She decided to revisit her original calculations. She tried to broaden her mind and look beyond what she thought was absolute law. She turned her attention to the centre of her galaxy and noticed her world was spinning faster than it should. In fact, the outside was also moving at an alarming rate. She wondered why everything hadn’t spun out into complete nothingness.

In a moment of divine introspection she realised it was the anomaly. It was responsible for holding everything together. It was the orchestral conductor keeping her galaxy spinning in perfect harmony.

This invisible force was strong, in spite of its size. She theorised it was at least five times stronger than anything else in her galaxy. It was everywhere, and it would always be there - surrounding her like a diffuse cloud.

In comparison, everything else in her galaxy appeared predictable and sterile. This anomaly was an extra little ‘bit’ - the pinch of cinnamon to her cosmic recipe. Despite its almost imperceptible size, it elevated her galaxy from ordinary to extraordinary.

She didn’t understand its basic structure, and she suspected she never would. It was complicated and interesting in a way that went beyond her current understanding of astrophysics. She tried not to over-analyse it. She didn’t want to remove the magic from her galaxy.

 

* * *

 

 Sam rose from her chair and took a few tentative steps forward. She smoothed out the non-existent creases in her outfit and glanced over her shoulder to Jack. He flashed her a hesitant smile and nodded in silent support. She turned to face the audience. She cleared her throat and self-consciously tucked a blond curl behind her ear. She leaned towards the microphone.

“Esteemed colleagues, family, friends and valued allies. Thanks for your attendance today. We're so grateful you could bare witness to this auspicious event, that's been 8 years in the making!”

Walter Harriman stood from his chair and hooted a “whoop whoop!”

Sam briefly bowed her head in embarrassed, before composing herself.

“Everybody knows that Jack and I met through work. Unfortunately, most of our job is classified, which prohibits me from going into the details..”

A chorus of ‘boos’ sung out around the auditorium.

“However, I _am_ allowed to discuss my field of expertise - astrophysics.”

Sam could hear a groan emanating from Jack’s direction.

“I’ll keep it short and relevant, I promise!”

“...like we haven’t heard that before!” shouted a disembodied voice. It sounded suspiciously like “three-drink” Daniel channelling his inner Jack, but she couldn’t get a visual.

A roar of laughter erupted from the Stargate personnel in the audience.

“It occurred to me the other day that love is like dark matter. We can’t see it or interact with it, but it’s there. It’s like an invisible force.” She paused, allowing the crowd to marinate in her musings.

She continued, “When Jack and I first met and our galaxies collided - metaphorically speaking - there were fireworks. It was unexpected, exciting and a little bit terrifying. When I replayed the event over in my head, my calculations came out all wrong! There was something about that first encounter that I wasn’t factoring in. Hidden behind the boasting, arrogance and eagerness to please - on my part - was an unidentifiable matter. I initially chalked it up to a random anomaly; a meaningless glitch that wasn’t important enough to scrutinise. As the years passed by, I came to realise that this ‘anomaly’ wasn’t insignificant at all.”

“The high pressure nature of our jobs forced me to take stock of my life on numerous occasions. We’ve been in a lot of dangerous and potentially life-threatening situations over the past eight years - each one of them different - but when I analysed them individually, I found that same anomaly. When I dug a little deeper, I discovered it was everywhere. It wasn’t obvious or pretentious, but it was there - surrounding me like a homogeneous bubble. In fact, it was the reason I hadn’t spun completely out of control. It was pulling everything in my galaxy together and holding it in place. It was a bizarre and crucial ingredient that I didn’t understand, but I couldn’t live without. It started out as tolerance, then quickly developed into admiration, then morphed into attraction and finally matured into love.”

A wave of “awwws” rippled across the room. She chanced a look at Jack. His face was contorted with a mixture of discomfort and reverence.

“Jack, our love defies my current understanding of the word. It’s expanded my mind in a way I didn’t think possible. It can’t be weighed or measured, but it’s the glue holding my galaxy together.”

She swallowed back the tears that brewed behind her eyes. She raised her glass.

“To my new husband, Jack - the only matter that matters in my life!”

Jack waded across the stage through a sea of applause and tenderly cupped her face with his hands. She blinked, and a single tear dislodged from her duct and travelled down her rosy cheeks. He ran his thumb across the soft skin before releasing his grip.

His hand curled around the microphone. “Avert your gaze, kids - public display of affection coming up…”

He spun around, catching Sam off-guard and dipped her backwards. Their lips met in a kiss that reverberated through her baryonic material and echoed through the universe.


End file.
